School Attendance Order - legal fight for London family

[Aucklander]

We have been home educating our two children for the last six years. It's been a very happy time. We have not had any inquiries from the local authority. If we did we would ignore them as they can only require information 'if it appears' that a suitable education is not taking place.

I am appalled at how this family is being treated:

Parents of Matilda star: We're prepared to go to jail in home schooling row
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/25/parents-matilda-star-prepared-go-jail-home-schooling-row/

They have more than obliging to the local authority but apparently on the basis that the LA has not seen the child they have issued a school attendance order.

The law is quite clear in Britain. You don't even need to tell the LA if you child has never attended school. They have no right assume your child is not being educated and make speculative enquiries. I hope this family win their case.

Obviously she’s not performing now but whilst a child is in a show the local authority has the right to perform spot checks both at the theatre & whilst being educated. Did the parents allow this to take place then? If they didn’t it would be a bit of a red flag.

Worth reading this academic paper:

Home Education and the Safeguarding Myth: Analysing the Facts Behind the Rhetoric.
www.personalisededucationnow.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/home-education-and-the-safeguarding-myth.WCW_.pdf

"Home educated children were found to be disproportionately scrutinised, being approximately twice as likely to be referred to Social Services at 9.39 – 10.19%, as were children aged 0-4 years at 5.24% and children aged 5-16 who attend school at 4.93%. Despite that double referral rate, Child Protection Plans were in place for only 0.17 - 0.24% of home educated children compared to 0.69% of all 0-4 year olds and 0.49 of 5-16 year old schooled children. Referrals to Social Services were found to be 3.5 - 5 times less likely to lead to a Child Protection Plan with home educated children than with referrals of schooled children aged 5-16 at 9.5% and 5 - 7 times less likely to lead to a Child Protection Plan than referrals for children aged 0-4 years at 13.23%. Rates of home educated children subject to a Child Protection Plan at 0.17 - 0.24% of the population, were also found to be less than teaching staff guilty of abuse offences 0.18 – 0.46%. Home educated children are found to not be at increased safeguarding risk, rather they are shown to be at lower risk than other children."

Statistically the safest place for children is at home with their parents. Of these home educated children are at even less risk.

If they are educating their child then they have nothing to fear by sharing what they are doing with the LA. I think that many home educating parents do a great job but there are also some who use the term 'home education' but actually do very little and this isn't in the best interests of their children. I think the LA should do more to check on children who are not in school actually.

I know this family and home educate my son in the same borough. No one ever bothers with us the way they have harangued this family because they're terrified they might actually have to do something for him if I sent him back into the education system. This is what I struggle with, sent off examples of work are fine for my son but not for that child, why not? My child has additional needs and his time in school was a living nightmare for all concerned hence when I said I would HE, they practically saw us off with Pom Poms. There is a long list of things I could write about that family that would show how high functioning they are and how well their children are doing but that's their personal business. That this child has been focussed on when so many others fly under the radar makes no sense to me and I find it all rather suspect.

gluteustothemaximus
I had to undo the damage from incompetent teachers.

The same could be said if you swap the word "teachers" for 'parents'.

I have seen some children that are home schooled in a fantastic manner, but I have also seen the opposite.
HE needs to have checks and measures in place.

I read the article, it's interesting, although the author is hardly a neutral voice! I wonder if she will submit it to a peer reviewed journal?

Statistically the safest place for children is at home with their parents. Of these home educated children are at even less risk.
Sure. And statistically, emotional and physical abuse of children is most likely to be perpetrated by a parent. You can't safeguard based on statistics.

I'd be deeply deeply unhappy to have to follow the NC with my children. We can do much much better than that. (content, ideology, all of it). That's one of the major benefits of home education, for my family: a tailored, bespoke education that is suitable for the age, ability and aptitude of each child, taking into account any SEN, but which does not have to peddle whatever fashionable nonsense is coming out of Whitehall.

I do find the mother's insistence that her daughter being successful in the play means her education is up to scratch a bit odd

Why?

Education isn't about remembering facts and figures alone.

As a lead in a WE musical not only will she have studied the play, music scores, worked and socialised with other cast members she will have made friends for life.

If a WE show is not considered a good enough education as well as all her work books are Westminster going to stop all day trips and work experience placements for school children?

I do know of some LA home schooling departments who are run by people who don't agree with home schooling so make everything as awkward as possible. Including getting a licence.

Re: statistically, emotional and physical abuse of children is most likely to be perpetrated by a parent. You can't safeguard based on statistics.

The research paper clearly shows that home educated children are less likely to be abused than children in school.

The statistics are important because they clearly show that this whole witch hunt against home educators is based on no more than ignorance and prejudice.

Home education has always been lawful in Britain. That position is protected by the Human Rights Act. The state is not allowed single out groups of law abiding people for special monitoring. I thought we had got beyond such discriminatory practices.

If the state is allowed to target home educators who will be next? Jews because of circumcision? Moslems because of the veil? Gypsies because of historic prejudice? Christians because of opposition to same sex marriage?

Britain is, or should be, a free country where the powers of the state are kept in check.

I'm in France, where we are required to register our HE children and have a yearly 'inspection' by the same people who inspect the schools, who then have to provide a written report.

Sounds good in principle, and our experience has been great - they come round, we have a chat, the dc natter about what they are doing and they go off and write a glowing report.

But it is a complete lottery. I have friends who I know are providing a very good education (one of them is a teacher herself) who have gone from glowing reports to threats of action against them the following year and back to glowing reports as the school inspectors changed. Some of the inspectors believe as a matter of principle that all dc should be in school, and insist on taking the dc away from the parents and making them sit exams (which they are in theory not allowed to do, but doesn't stop them). Others are openly hostile, leave the dc upset and then use the fact that the dc are upset to refer them to social services (who are also supposed to do a regular inspection, just because the dc are HE).

Unfortunately things don't always work in practice the way they should in theory. Inspecting all HE children is a large administrative burden that the LAs are reluctant to undertake, and as a result you won't always get top quality staff doing the job.